


On the Road Again

by thesnadger



Series: Summer's Over [2]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-28
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 15:45:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5096195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesnadger/pseuds/thesnadger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Small, mini-sequel to Summer's Over. After being kicked out of his home by his brother, Stan starts heading out of town.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Road Again

Stan drove. He still didn't know where he was going. But after half an hour of sitting in the Sha--....in...in Ford's driveway, he'd gotten frustrated with himself and sped off blindly. Going _somewhere,_ even if it could be _anywhere_ has got to be better than going _nowhere._ At least that's how he saw it.

He'd taken turns and roads impulsively, avoiding the highways. He figured by this point he was probably a couple miles outside the outskirts of town. It was hard to tell, of course. Out here the only landmarks were the rows and rows of identical trees. That probably wouldn't change for a while.

Stan tried to consider his options. Coming up with creative (not always wise, not often legal) ways to make money had always been easy for him, but not today. His mind had turned on him. It kept going back to the image of Ford sifting through the mail. Not even looking him in the eye, not even interested in talking to him. Stan would gladly eat another knuckle sandwich from his brother before he'd swallow that indifference again.

If he hadn't been so eager for a distraction, he might not have noticed the hitchhiker on the road ahead.

She was sitting on a heavy-duty backpack, (the kind only serious hikers wore,) and holding out a sign that said “Portland.” As Stan got closer, he realized that he recognized her. He slowed his car to a stop and rolled down the window.

“Wendy, what the hell am I looking at here?” he asked. “What is this?”

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like a dumb kid making a dumb decision.”

“You don't understand, Stan! You don't know what high school is like.” She lowered the sign, exasperated. “Everyone hates me, and I hate everyone! Every aspect of my day is micromanaged by a handful of freaking sadists...just being in the building makes me feel like I'm being suffocated!” She shuddered. “I'm done with it. I did better when the world was ending than I ever did in school. I'm going to Portland, I'm going to form an experimental thrash metal-klezmer band and I'm never going to set foot in a high school again.”

“Well that's not gonna happen. Portland's an expensive city, and I know you don't have any real money saved up, not with what I pay you. You know how hard it is to get a job without a high school diploma?”

“I don't care. I'll figure something out...anything's gotta be better than going back there.”

“What about everything else you've got at home?” Stan tone was aggressive. He wasn't going to let her run off _that_ easily. “What about your family?”

“My family sucks.” Wendy said, folding her arms.

Stan's eyesight was crummy on the best of days, but he was still pretty sure he saw tears in the corners of Wendy's eyes. He sighed and looked at the ground.

“Everyone's family sucks.” Stan said grimly. “That's what families do.”

Wendy paused, unfolding her arms. She was looking at the back of Stan's car. “...What are you doing out here anyway? And what's with all the luggage? Where are you going?”

“Honestly? I have no idea.” Stan said. “My brother kicked me out, so....I thought I'd just start driving and figure it out on the way.”

“...Wow.” Wendy's tone softened a little. “That's...pretty heavy.”

“Well, y'know. Families suck.” Stan said.

“Yeah...”

The two of them were silent for a while. Then Stan unlocked the car doors.

“Well? Are you gonna get in?” he asked.

“I don't know.” Wendy eyed him suspiciously. “Are you just gonna take me back home and tell me it's for my own good?”

“If I do that you'll be back out here in an hour, probably getting in the car with some weird, creepy ex-con. Might as well be a weird, creepy ex-con that you actually know.”

Wendy considered, then climbed into the passenger seat of the car.


End file.
